Starting Oct. 1, all full-time Pasadena city employees will earn at least $12.50 per hour. Previously, the minimum starting pay for the city's workers ranged from the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour to about $10 an hour, city spokesman Richard Scott said.

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The new wage scale isn't subject to approval by the Pasadena City Council because each worker's raise is considered to be a merit increase at the behest of Mayor Johnny Isbell, city spokeswoman Jennifer Pedersen said.

"Our employees work hard to serve our community and the residents who live here, and I think that shows in the quality of projects and services the city provides," Isbell said Tuesday in a prepared statement. "I want to make sure we reward those employees and recognize their contributions."

Pasadena's step is especially interesting in the context of protests in recent months by fast-food workers and others who say they can't make ends meet on the $7.25-per-hour minimum wage.

As part of Pasadena's budget process for Fiscal Year 2015, the city council will vote next month on a "step system" plan that spells out how workers who are paid hourly continue to earn raises, Pedersen said.

"We're still fine-tuning that one," she said.

The step system will help the city retain good employees who want to build careers with the city, Isbell said in the news release.

Prior to deciding to make the hourly rate adjustment, city staff members compared Pasadena's existing salary structure with that in neighboring cities and with pay arrangements in cities of comparable size, according to a city news release.

The city has about 900 full-time employees, including the police department, Pedersen said.